Walter Brasch: The truth is that the politics of hate, combined with media complicity and Internet access, has led not to a discussion of critical issues but to character assassination, with racism and bigotry as its pillars.

Jim Fuller: The spectacle of millions of Americans fighting with passion and rage against their own interests, as well as the interests of everyone who isn’t very rich, all but paralyzes many liberals and even sane conservatives.

Steve Hochstadt: Until recently, nobody knew that the unprecedented wealth of American society carried extreme dangers for our own future. Our modern lifestyles of consumption are slowly killing the planet.

Bob Letcher: If we agree simply to total up CO2 emissions, China ends up being the world’s biggest emitter. But, if we agree to account for China’s much larger population, by ranking per capita emission, the US can go back to its familiar cheer: “We’re #1! We’re #1! Whhoooa!!”

Wellness

Carole Bartolotto: The problem with concluding that GMOs are safe is that the argument for their safety rests solely on animal studies. These studies are offered as evidence that the debate over GMOs is over. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Environmentalism

Walker Foley: Elected officials seem to think there’s only one side of this property rights argument. The people who live in these communities have rights too, but the oil companies seem to have the jump on [the politicians’] side of the fence.